Momentous ton in milestone match for David Warner

BENGALURU: A little over two hours into the Australian innings, opener David Warner leapt high and let out a war cry. It was an expression soaked in joy and satisfaction of turning his milestone match into a momentous one. Playing his 100th ODI, the 31-year-old had just scored his 14th century. The century, the second by an Australian in this series after Aaron Finch in Indore, was explosive and ruthless.

Usually an expressive batsman both on and off the field, Warner needed the runs to arrest a modest show in the limited overs with his previous five innings yielding 129 runs (40,21, 25, 1 and 42). This was Warner's fourth century on Indian soil, having scored three in the Indian Premier League (two for Delhi Daredevils and one for Sunrisers Hyderabad). Scoring a ton in his 100th ODI, Warner joined an illustrious list of seven others including Gordon Greenidge, Chris Cairns, Mohd Yousuf, Kumar Sangakkara, Chris Gayle, Marcus Trescothick and Ramnaresh Sarwan, who have achieved the same feat.

Warner timed his innings with surgical precision. He took a couple of overs to warm up, allowing partner Aaron Finch to do the attacking. He found his rhythm in the third over of the match, punishing Mohammed Shami for his wavering length twice in three overs.

He brought up his 50 in 45 balls, clearing a wide ball from spinner Axar Patel through point and then sent a slow one from Kedar Jadhav through backward point to bring up the century. Against the pacers, Warner got under the length beautifully and found the gaps effortlessly.